Transcripts For CNNW The Nineties 20200106

Abandon limitations on enriching uranium, but it will continue to cooperate with the u. N. Nuclear watch dog. President donald trump reiterating his threat to target iranian cultural sites if teheran retaliates for the u. S. Strike. That would be a war crime, considered a war crime under international law. And Iraqs Parliament called for u. S. And other foreign troops to leave the country, underscoring growing fears the u. S. Strike will trigger a regional war. President trump is threatening sanctions on iraq if u. S. Troops are expelled. He said it costs billions to build an air base there and americans arent leaving unless iraq pays the u. S. Back for it. Jumanna is in baghdad and joins us with the latest. Jumanna, iraq caught between a rock and a hard place here. Reporter it really is, natalie. And we heard that from the iraqi Prime Minister yesterday as he was addressing parliament in that stunning move, basically making the argument for why the Iraqi Parliament should vote in favor of u. S. And Foreign Forces leaving iraq. He said basically over the past few months, they have seen the tensions rising between the United States and iran. A proxy war that was playing out here in iraq. He said it was heading towards a confrontation slowly, and thats what they saw happening over the past week. And after that unprecedented escalation with the strike on friday that killed soleimani, this was it for iraq. They really do not want this confrontation, a possible war, to be playing out here in iraq. They dont want this country to become a battle field, an arena for the United States to settle scores here. So he said, you know, we have two options right now. Either try and limit the mission of these Foreign Forces in iraq, which is going to be very difficult, he said, and the fact that theyre not going to be able the Iraqi Security forces will not be able to secure the bases with the tensions that are rising. And he said that leaves them with one option, and that is to work towards the immediate ending of the presence of u. S. Forces, and that is what the Iraqi Parliament voted for yesterday. So now there are obviously legal and procedural issues, it is a caretaker government that is going to have to work through this to end the mission of the Coalition Forces here in iraq. And weve heard the threats from President Trump through that tweet. We havent had a reaction yet. It is very early in the morning, from the iraqis. Certainly, natalie, this is not going to go down very well here. I wouldnt imagine. And youve got to think about sanctions and what the impact could be due to the very weak economy there in iraq, jumanna. Reporter well, i mean, you know, you always have this with President Trump, right . He always uses sanctions as the threat against different countries. Now threatening one of their main allies in the region with sanctions without really trying to understand where iraq is coming from, where they are making the point that they really do not want this country to be dragged into a war that is being caused pretty much by the u. S. Actions, by President Trumps decisions. And when it comes to sanctions, you know, President Trump saying that theyll hit them with sanctions like theyve never seen before, this country has gone through some of the toughest sanctions under the saddam regime. Many iraqis will tell you were some of the harshest years of their lives. Right now the iraqi economy, according to the world bank, has actually been doing well. There have been improvements when it comes to its gdp, some increases also. But keeping in mind, natalie, at the same time, the iraqi population here is quite fed up, as we have seen in recent months. They have been taking to the streets in protest because of the Economic Situation because they havent been feeling any change in the Economic Situation, because they have been suffering from poverty and unemployment. Any sort of sanctions, of course, will impact the country, but more importantly, its the message that this sends. You know, the impact this will have, i think this will only cause an increase in antiamerican sentiments that we are seeing, you know, again here when you have iraqis again, whether parliamentarians and others on the street who pretty much for the first time in a very long time are chanting death to america. This will only increase these antiamerican sentiments, natalie. Right. They have been suffering a long time, and now this certainly makes their lives all the more complex. Jumanna karachi, we appreciate your reporting. You m jumanna, thank you. The Islamic Republic said it will respond militarily to the u. S. The Supreme Leader said the country would retaliate against military sites. He also warned President Trump against targeting iranian cultural sites. Translator for sure, no military staff, no american political center, no American Military base, no american vessel in the world will be safe. If he says 52 sites, we say 300, and theyre accessible to us. Joining us now from washington, he is executive vicepresident of the Quincey Institute of craft and author of losing an enemy obama, iran, and the tribe of diplomacy. We speak again. Its that kind of weak. There are so many strands had in what is an increasingly worrying situation. Lets start with the iraqi Prime Minister and then well move on. He said he was scheduled to meet with Qassem Soleimani the morning he was killed. He said soleimani was bringing him a message from iran. He also said hed received a phone call from donald trump asking him to mediate. Does it sound to you like a potential mediation effort was scuttled by this killing . I fear so, because this is what actually happened in the last couple of months. After the Trump Administration back in the summer opted not to go to war with iran after the iranians shot down an american drone, the saudis and the u. A. E. Drew the conclusion that they could not count on the Trump Administration to defend them or to essentially go to war with iran on their behalf. What happened then was they then realized they had to start diplomacy with iran. And quietly the saudis have been exchanges messages with the iranians through the Iraqi Government. The u. A. E. Has had much more open diplomacy with the iranians with their officials going to teheran. We saw once the u. S. Was not going to go to war, the regional actors themselves started to realize that theyre better off engaging in diplomacy. And according to the iraqi Prime Minister, part of that effort was that the iraqis were mediating between iran and saudi arabia. Soleimani was coming back with a response to the saudis, with a message to saudis that sent the iranians through the iraqis. He was coming with a response to the saudis on how to reduce tensions and thats when the u. S. Killed him. And then he was killed, which is extraordinary. This is coming from the iraqi Prime Minister as well. Speaking of iraq, there was this vote in the Iraqi Parliament demanding the government work towards ending the presence of u. S. Troops on iraqi soil. And then op top of that, you get donald trump saying he would sanction iraq if that happened. Its all head spinning stuff. It certainly is because trump is the person who actually campaigned on a promise of ending these endless wars and bringing the troops home. I mean, hes complaining about this all the time. And hes saying it because he knows the American Public wants the troops to come home. Now he has his best possible excuse, Iraqi Parliament recommended the u. S. Should leave. So he should take up on that. Instead now hes saying hes not leaving unless he gets paid, but theres no basis for the United States to be in iraq if the Iraqi Government asked them to leave. The only basis why the u. S. Is there right now is because the Iraqi Government asked for u. S. Support in the fight against isis. If that request has come to an end, the u. S. Should be leaving. And frankly, it would be better for the u. S. Itself if it left. Its absolutely extraordinary, isnt it . You had the secretary of state mike pompeo talking the sunday talk shows. Among other things he said, we took a bad guy off the battle field, made the right decision, less risks today to the American Forces in the region as a result of it. I mean, iran, its proxies, hezbollah and others would beg to differ. It is hard to see how he makes that conclusion. Well, if it is so that there is a less of a risk, why is it so that the u. S. State department asked all americans to leave iraq immediately . If this actually had made iraq more safe and americans in iraq more safe, then such a very alarming request by the state department would not have come out. It specifically said that they should leave immediately. The airport in baghdad has been filled with americans leaving iraq right now. Theyre not leaving because iraq has been made more safe. Extraordinary. Take a look at the region. Youve got the shiites furious with the u. S. Sunni states are worried about whats happening in the neighborhood. Youve got isis regrouping. The kurds feel betrayed. Iran and donald trump are tweeting threats at each other. What do you see when you take that broad view . Well, i certainly dont believe anyone has been made more safe. This is an absolute disaster. This is taking the entire rooj to the brink of war. This is not good for the United States itself. And i think most americans will recognize and realize whether they do it immediately or not, that if there are reprizals and american soldiers are dead, clearly the iranians will be responsible if they are the ones who did it, but trump will also be responsible because hes the one who started this. Where does it go from here . Whats what are your thoughts . What happens now . The question to a very large extent depends on if the iranians what the iranians decide to do. I fear that there will be some sort of reprisal. What they have been sending to cnn is they are going to follow their rules of proportionality. A military person was targeted so they will target a military a military target in response. We are speculating and i dont know. We suspect what the iranians will do, they will do it in such a way that it will surprise the world. That is very worrying. You hope you dont get into tough guy stuff where it escalates based on hubris. Good to see you as always. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Well, many in teheran are now paying their respects to Qassem Soleimani. We will go live to riyadh with more on that just ahead here. Also when we come back, iran says it no longer needs to negotiate with the u. S. , but does this mean all hope for diplomacy is lost . Well talk about that, too, after the break. Not even our competitors best battery can match the power of energizer. Because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. Backed by science. Matched by no one. Must be hot out there, huh . Not especially. [ slurping continues ] what you drinking . Gasoline. Right, but i mean, whats in the cup . Gasoline. [ slurping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. For those who were born to ride, im happy to give you the tour, i lohey jay. It. Jay . He helped me set up my watch lists. Karl he took care of my 401k rollover. 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Youre looking at live video here from the iranian capital as prayers are being said this hour at teheran universitys mosque for Qassem Soleimani. Irans general killed friday in the u. S. Drone strike. His body will later be taken to teherans asadi square. The iraqi Prime Minister said soleimani was on a mission in baghdad. He had come to the iraqi capital to talk about deescalating tensions between iran and the saudis. Lets get some perspective on that from our nic robertson. Hes live for us in the saudi capital, riyadh. Hello, nick. Reporter hello, natalie. Its not quite clear what the iraqi Prime Minister was referring to. Certainly from the saudi side here, were not getting details of what this message that the iraqis had passed on for them to teheran. But, you know, look, when we look at whats recently happened here and the public statements by saudi arabia, saudi arabias been very clearly calling for iran to cease and desist. Its what they see as expansionist agenda in the region by backing up proxies like the houthis in yemen with Ballistic Missiles at the capital in riyadh. Theyve been clear about this. Theyve been wanting support from the United States on this. Also there is that other picture here from saudi arabia, of course, and that is that, you know, there was an attack on two of the Oil Refineries about three months ago. And theres no doubt in anyones mind here that those attacks were perpetrated by iran from iranian territory. Now, the saudis have avoided saying that publicly. Part of the reason they havent said that publicly is they didnt want to escalate tensions with iran in the sort of public arena. So to the point where, you know, one side would be forced to act against the other side, where the saudis would be forced to take retaliatory action against iran. So they hadnt publicly accused iran of being the base where that complex drone and missile attack was launched from. So they conversation, this message that the iraqi Prime Minister was talking about may very well have been a back channel deescalating the tensions that had arisen from irans strike on saudi arabia that had taken out more than half of its oil supply. Certainly now obviously that, with soleimanis killing, that back channel comes to a dead end, so that will raise concerns about the possibility of escalation here. And thats saudi arabias public message to the United States and iran at the moment, to not escalate this situation further. Right. And theyll be leading with secretary of state pompeo to talk about that and well be covering that as well. Nic robertson for us in riyadh. Thank you, nick. Well, as tensions rise, some World Leaders expressing concern, calling for deescalation in a joint statement. The french president emmanuel macron, the german chancellor Angela Merkel and british Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, in part, we call on all parties to exercise utmost restraint and responsibility. The current cycle of violence in iraq must be stopped. And ambassador christoffer hill joins me now among many other things, the former u. S. Ambassador to iraq. Also professor at the university of denver. Also good to get you on. You are a former ambassador. How has the last couple of days been for diplomacy . Well, pretty extraordinary. I mean, i guess the question Many Americans are asking is whats the context of this . We go africa seem soleimani, by the way, not a very nice guy mildly. But what have we tried to accomplish there . Whats the longer term plan . So were not seeing a lot of that. And the second thing we dont quite see is what is the what are what procedures are being followed . Do we have a National Security council . Do we have a National Security Council Staff who puts up decision memos in front of the president . How is he notifying congress . All kinds of questions about how this is being handled. And, frankly, im almost as worried about the effect of this on the United States as i am the effect of this in the middle east. Yeah. Well, indeed. I mean, weve seen quite literally trump governing by tweet. I mean, talking about things like disproportionate force against iran, which isnt allowed under International Laws of conflict saying he doesnt have to identify congress about military acts against iran. He does. Threatening iraq with sanctions. Its hard to get your head around it. Yeah, its very hard. You know, one can only imagine what the Iraqi Government they have a caretaker Prime Minister. I knew him very well when i was in iraq. Very moderate, careful guy. Hes really tried to manage a very tough situation. There have been demonstrations after demonstrations. Hes been accused of being an iranian supporter, which he is not. And so he has had to kind of take the lead in the parliament and try to kind of slow this thing down by saying, you know, i look forward to, you know, getting Foreign Forces out. Well, that hasnt been easy to be said. Of course, President Trump picked up on it because hes never really talked to this person. I think he talked to him on the phone once when he visited troops in iraq, his only time. So this is really kind of chaotic. And again, it leaves our procedures kind of shattered and with the question that many people have is whats the difference between us and some very unsophisticated point . The u. S. Is kicked out, its iraq choosing iran over the u. S. Losing that footprint, thats got to severely impact how the u. S. Deals with a resurgent isis and any other number of regional threats. You know, for the casual american observer of all this, although i wouldnt say any american is right now being casual about it, it is a hard to understand on the one hand we have something called isis. Very, very extremist sunni group. Then on the other hand we go out and get someone known for his affiliation to extremist shia groups. I think for Many Americans they get confused by all this. Vicepresident pence was suggesting that soleimani was helping isis. In the middle east your enemy is your enemy, so you have to manage all that. And it requires a lot of knowledge, not to speak of wisdom apparently. Not a lot of nuance floating around. If you were advising donald trump right now this minute after all thats happened, what would you tell him . Well, id probably be the millionth person to have told him to get off of twitter. Second thing id do is to suggest that he reach out to all the european leaders and have good conversations with them. Theyre the ones who are really being affected by this. He should also speak to the russians and the chinese and, in particular, he needs to address the issue of the Iran Nuclear Program because the iranians in just the last few hours, iranians announced theyre not going to abide by any of the, of the joint action plan of 2015. So he needs to have something to say to these countries, some suggestion of how he would like to go forward. Again, i think everyones looking for whats the plan . What is he trying to do . From what we can tell, he spent a couple minutes going after soleimani, pointing out that neither bush nor obama had done it. He might have asked the question, why didnt they . Rather than, you mean i would be the first . So, again, this is a president who is not on top of his brief, and i think that is the major issue for us all. The other thing that strikes memorandum is the administration has been talking, even sunday, of deescalation while literally at the same time escalating things with either actions or rhetoric. I mean, what would deescalation look like now . What would an offramp look like . Hard to say because, you know, President Trump, secretary pompeo, they made very clear they want, if not regime change name, they certainly want the iranians to kind of change a lot of things there. And they certainly have looked at the sanctions which have essentially resulted in hardship for the iranian people. Somehow the sanctions can lead to a better iran. While theyre talking like this, theyre ratcheting up the pressure. Im particularly concerned about the handling of iraq. We are not in iraq because we want to be there. Were there because we have to be there and we have to make sure that isis, which has the capability and showed the capability to strike at targets far away from its home base. That we need to make sure isis is not going to be reconstituted. And right now these are pretty good days for isis as the u. S. Decides what to do about these shia groups. So a lot of problems. Again, i dont see a lot of diplomacy. The president always talks about how hes opposed to these endless wars. Well, hes had an endless war against american diplomats, and maybe its time that he understands that he needs a few of them if were going to get through this. Ambassador christopher hill, good to have you. Good to talk with you. The white house shows no signs of backing down. Donald trump is doubling down, in fact, on his threats to iran as tensions rise between the two countries. Also weve got this. Australias Prime Minister criticized over his response to the deadly bush fires scorching his country. Hear what hes saying now as thousands flee. Whoa, this is awful, try it. Oh no, that looks gross what is that . You gotta try it, its terrible. I dont wanna tray it if its terrible. 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Secretary of state mike pompeo is defending the u. S. President s recent strike in iran, and theres no signs of the u. S. Backing down. Er just hours ago donald trump reiterating his threat to target iranian cultural sites as he was on his way back to the white house. Sarah westwood with the details. Reporter President Trump returned to washington on sunday night against the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding his senate trial and chaos in the middle east after the president decided at his maralago resort to take out the commander of irans security and intelligence services. And on saturday the president threatened to hit iranian cultural sites if iran struck any american or any american asset. That threat has sparked a backlash among critics. But the president doubled down on that threat as he headed back to washington on air force one. I want to read you part of what he told reporters during that conversation. Theyre allow today kill our people. Theyre allowed to torture and maim our people. Theyre allowed to use road side bombs and blow up our people and were not allowed to touch their cultural site . It doesnt work that way. Now democrats, for their part, have expressed skepticism that the intelligence the administration cited as the reason for taking out this e iranian leader was enough to warrant this level of military action. Democrats have expressed concern that the administration has thought through the implications of this move. Take a listen. I really worry that the actions the president took will get us into what he calls another endless war in the middle east. He promised we wouldnt have that, and i think were close tore that now because of his actions. Reporter meanwhile, the future of the president s future of the impeachment trial remains in limbo. Surrounding the holidays, he was asking advisors and aides who were with him who should represent him during that senate trial. White house officials have not been able to make concrete decisions about just what that strategy should look like, just who should play the exact top roles because Speaker Pelosi hasnt yet made a move. Sarah westwood, cnn, the white house. Joining me from washington, senior fellow for the foundation of defense for democracies. Thanks so much for coming in. Great to be with you. Thanks for having me. Sure thing. You said in the interview back in august prior to the g7 summit prior to iran, it was important to deal with the Nuclear Threat before the terrorism threat. Now as a result of dealing with terrorism and killing soleimani, iran says it will abandon the nuclear deal. Threats begin with your thoughts on that development. Well, typically a Nuclear Threat is the most pressing threat. You have to deal with iranian threats comprehensively because one asymmetric drives another. It begets interest in military program and vice versa. Its a weak conventional power, means its a strong asymmetric power. There is a lot of symbiosis between military and cyber and whatnot. On the nuclear file, the jcpoa, the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal which trump left in may 2018, they deal with this incrementally every 60 days. Now it is slated for january 6th. It is removing the caps on its enrichment of uranium. This is the material you need to get a nuclear weapon, put it in the warhead. This means iran has a lot more control over the scale, scope and direction of this enrichment program. It will weapon eyes the fear of western countries and have america rush back into the same deals it fought. Be interesting to see if that happens. Lets talk more about the killing of soleimani. The experts in the middle east said it will upend the region. It will have unintended consequence. We are already seeing that. Now iraq wants to get rid of u. S. Troops. Its been kind of stuck in the middle. Iran is vowing revenge. Where do you see this going perhaps . Does anyone know . The most important thing to remember is Qassem Soleimani has been one of the most important drivers of instability in the middle east, but particularly in the heart land of middle east, iraq and syria where the u. S. Is currently there under the auspices of the counter isis campaign. Qassem soleimani is one of the reasons israel and saudi arabia have been against each other. So no doubt iran is going to look to try to escalate, try to retaliate. Interestingly, a member of Irans Parliament the other day said theyre looking for revenge, not war. The Islamic Republic understands its own conventional military weaknesses. The question is how are they going to escalate against america. In this case the year 2019 is instructive. All the areas they claimed in 2019 are going to be in 2020. If the u. S. Troops are expelled, iraq has been caught in the middle of this. What would the loss of american troops mean to that that country . I think it would be devastating for u. S. National Security Strategy for either iraq to evict legally for parliamentary process, and simultaneously a mistake for the u. S. President to unilaterally withdraw u. S. Forces in the region. This would be handing iraq and the plains of iraq to the successor of the likes of Qassem Soleimani. Theyve already named a successor for soleimanis position. Iraq is going to be pivotal for the push back on iran. As the u. S. Steps up pressure, iraq feels like its in between a rock and a hard place. Talk of sanctions right now against iraq are premature. The reason is that the Iraqi Parliament, especially the proiran block of the Iraqi Parliament has used every opportunity of 2019 to evict america and they failed. The most recent resolution that people are citing is a nonbinding one. So its expression of distaste with the american take out. But american troops are still there. America needs to make sure iraq is on its side as it pushes back against iran. Right. People in the streets are saying we want president u. S. Out, we want iran out. Theyve been in the streets protesting the government. They dont have basic rights and Services Since the fall of saddam hussein. So this puts them in an awkward position as far as the citizens go. You said of soleimani that he is the reason for much of the instability and the terrorism in the middle east. I want to ask you other president s considered assassinating and opted out, President Trump did. Secretary pompeo said this week the world is safer because of this action. Do you think it is . One quick note on the regional protest against iran. While iraqi nationalism is high, perhaps higher than its ever been the past two or three decades, its clear who the primary target of the iraqi peoples ire is. It is almost definitely iran. They are saying iran out. So while there are some small factions boasted by iraq shia militia, large swaths of iraqi were protesting in september as well as starting october 2019. And the president had been pointing a finger at iran. Its been iran backed iraqi shia militia exposing the role of the neighbor in iraqi politics. As to the secretarys comments, i do agree that the middle east is going to be safer without Qassem Soleimani, but this does not permit america to say that victory is accomplished, Mission Accomplished, to borrow a phrase, and leave the region. If anything now, washington has to capitalize on this opportunity to limit irans escalation and to signal resolve to the iranians and work again with local partners to make sure that there can actually be a path to peace. Thank you so much for your insights. And yes, i dont think well hear Mission Accomplished from the administration in the United States. We really appreciate your expertise. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Were going to take a short break. When we come back, some new details on that deadly terror attack in kenya. The target, american troops. Well have reaction from the u. S. Military. Man whats my safelite story . I spend a lot of time in my truck. Its my livelihood. Rock music man so im not taking any chances when something happens to it. So when my windshield cracked. My friend recommended safelite autoglass. Tech hi, im adrian. Man thanks for coming. Tech oh, no problem. Tech check it out. Man yeah. They came right to me, with Expert Service where i needed it. Thats service i can trust. No matter what im hauling. Right, girl . Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. You ever wish you werent a motaur . Sure. Sometimes i wish i had legs like you. Yeah, like a regular person. No. Still half bike half man, just the opposite. Oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top . Yeah. Yeah, i could see that. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Welcome back. An attack on a military base in kenya has claimed the lives of three americans. The al qaeda affiliate alshabaab has taken responsibility for the attack at a Kenyan Military base used by special operations forces. One u. S. Service member and two military contractors were killed in this. General Steven Townsend is issuing a statement on behalf of the u. S. Africa command saying, quote, as we honor their sacrifice, lets also harden our resolve alongside our african and international partners. We will pursue those responsible for this attack and alshabaab who seeks to harm americans and u. S. Interests. We remain committed to preventing alshabaab from maintaining a safe haven to plan deadly attacks against the u. S. East african and international partners. Kenya says at least five of the attackers were killed, but not before they destroyed several planes and helicopters and other military equipment. Our farai is in nairobi for us. Reporter this army base is very significant. Its where u. S. Troops, including the u. S. Command have been conducting joint operations with african troops like the Kenyan Defense forces to try and weed out alshabaab. Now, it is the first time that alshabaab have attacked american troops on kenyan soil. We turn now to venezuela. Opposition lawmakers there have reelected juan guaido as leader of the national assembly. It was actually a rival session outside the legislative palace with the votes of 100 lawmakers. Guaido still is recognized as venezuelas interim president by more than 50 countries. None of the promaduro socialist congressmen took part in sundays opposition vote. Instead, they held their own vote hours earlier installing their own Assembly President luis para. The pro maduro group blocked opposition leaders from entering the building during that vote. Well, another setback for boeings troubled 737max jet. The company acknowledging a potential design flaw with the planes wiring. The New York Times reporting that the placement of wiring in the tail could short circuit and lead to an accident. This is separate from the planes previous problems. Boeing spotted the issue during a safety review ordered by the u. S. Federal aviation administration. The fleet has been grounded worldwide since march after two crashes killed more than 300 people. When we come back, australian officials trying to make the most of a small window of opportunity. We are live in australia as the Mass Evacuations are underway as those bush fires rage on. I wanted more from my copd medicine thats why ive got the power of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. The only fdaapproved oncedaily 3in1 copd treatment. Trelegy the power of 1,2,3 trelegy 1,2,3 trelegy woman with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3, im breathing better. Trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. 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Remember, you have out the hilton app. Can the hilton app help us win . Hey, heywere all winners with the hilton price match guarantee, alright . Man, you guys are adorable alright, lets go find your coach, come on book with the hilton app. Expect better. Expect hilton. Robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today welcome back. Major evacuations are underway in australia where deadly bush fires have claimed 24 lives since september. Yeah. The pictures continue to be devastating like this picture shot right here. We are seeing widespread destruction of homes and livelihood. Conditions eased on sunday. But officials warned it will likely get worse in the coming days. Climate change is contributing to the crisis. Well, i should stress there is no dispute in this country about the issue of Climate Change globally and its effect on, you know, Global Weather patterns and that includes how it impacts in australia because i have to correct the record here. I have seen a number of people suggest that somehow the government does not make this connection. The government has always made that connection, and that has never been in dispute. What we have focussed on is what our response is and we set that out very clearly, and that response as it always has will continue to be upgraded to make sure we meet the commitments that we have made. Andrew stevens joining us now from cambra. The Prime Minister has been criticized for emphasizing the economy is more important than the environment. Hes changing his tune there. Reporter thats right, michael, yes. The Prime Minister very clearly saying that we recognize that the climate is changing and australia is getting hotter and drier. What hes not recognizing is that Carbon Emissions is also user of fossil fuels. Hes not saying there is a connection there that these man maid emissions are contributing to Climate Change. In fact, it wasnt that long ago in madrid where australia was seen as a pariah for its stance on global emissions. Most observers and experts say australia could do a lot more. The government refusing to budge at this stage, michael. There is anger against morrison on several fronts for his response to these bush fires. Generally the slowness of his response, he was almost disinterested. And a longer term issue that the morrison government leads on much more car been emissions. Andrew, i was reading earlier that people there are being told to stay home because the smoke and air quality is so bad. What is the situation . This is the capital. Reporter i know. If Scott Morrison ever wanted a reminder of what bush fires do and how they affect the lives of normal australians. Yesterday this was thick smoke to the point where as you say many o. Government offices were closed today monday because of health reasons. There is a strong smoke smell in the air but the quality of the air is fine now. But interestingly, if you go to the main zone of where the fires were at their hottest and most devastating, a town on the coast of victoria, there are still people there who are waiting for be evacuated. They cant get out this day because the smoke haze is such that aircrafts cant get in. Shoppers cant get in to carry people out. So what we have at the moment is really a brief respit. Its been raining today. Its been raining across a lot of the bush fire zone. When we were driving in today, we were driving through torrential rain. That was very close to where two towns lost a lot of houses just 24 hours earlier. So there is rain today, michael. But i need to emphasize, its not enough. There is still more than 100 fires raging in new south whales and victoria. They are not considered a danger to life or property at this stage, but the rain is not sufficient to put these out. By thursday, friday of this week, the hot conditions are expected to come back. The dry, hot winds are expected to come back, and were expecting to see yet more flairups. So this bush fire season still has a long way to go, a lot more drama for the residents in the bush areas for the thousands of volunteer firefighters who are now exhausted from fighting. They still face a very long, difficult summer, michael. Yeah. And an estimated half a billion animals taken also by these fires. Andrew stevens there in cambria, appreciate it. Lets check in with our meteorologist. Hearing andrew talk about a bit of rain, but you are probably going to reiterate the fact that it is probably not enough. It is the best weather we have seen since the 23rd of december. The temperatures among the coolest we have seen in about two weeks time, certainly some of the heavier rain in a time. Not just to the south but across the Northern Tier to the continue nen here. But again the scope of these fires, the significance of these fires so large in nature that even some moderate rain fall not going to be enough. The rain fall brings in the marine influence as we approach wednesday into thursday. Beyond that, the winds once again pick up and the temperatures once again will rise. You see this break year, but the average for this time of year is 26 degrees. Five of the next seven days remain below that threshold. Better news when it comes to Fire Fighting efforts with cooler air. Notice radar imragry. This is what andrew was talking about. But at the very most, when you put all of this together, about a tenth of a meter tenth of a millimeter or so, 15 millimeters in some areas, that is about the most we expect within a five day season across this particular region. When you look at an average fire, historically speaking, that is what is needed here to stop the spread of fires, but of course these fires far from average. You need at least 50 millimeters. Certainly nowhere near that. Not enough. Now if you look off toward the north and west, there is a Tropical Cyclone to tell you about this. This is beginning to move ashore now. Tremendous rain fall in store if you could take that energy and shift it in towards the south and southeast, that would be an entirely different story, but this will get upwards of 50 or 100 millimeters. But nearly 200 fires put together, 50 of which considered out of control. Yes, the weather pattern in the second couple of days helps, but far from whats needed here to put out the fires in their entirety. Months to go in their summer. Months and months. It is a terrible situation. John, thank you. And that is the news this hour, but please stay with us. Well be back after a quick break with more. 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So come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today. This is cnn breaking news. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. Im michael holmes. And im natalie allen. We are following the breaking news out of iran, the consequences of the u. S. Killing an iranian commander are unfolding quickly. Thousands of people, tens of thousands are in the streets in t thairan as iran abandoned steps to enrich iranian. They will continue to